Canada The Home Front

Reaction to war

• There were two distinct responses to the war in Canada– There was cheering in

the streets in English Canada. War was seen as a romantic adventure

– In French Canada there was no celebration, as this was not seen as a Canadian war.

Gearing up for war (Mobilization)• Sam Hughes was Minister

for Militia and Defence and was put by PM Borden in charge of the war effort.– He was responsible for

setting up war contracts unfortunately he blundered not only in selecting equipment

• Trenching shovel with a hole designed to act as shied was too small and failed in muddy terrain.

The Ross Rifle- he selected for the troops was excellent on the range but jammed in the mud and Using British ammunition. (many snipers liked the Ross rifle)

Canadian soldier soon grab Lee-Enfield rifles from there dead British Counter parts. Canada would later switch over to the Lee-Enfield as its main weapon for the infantry.

….Sam also did not do a good job ensuring quality control as many of the manufactures short changed Canadian troops.– 2 million pairs of boots with

cardboard soles were shipped over seas and became known as “Sam’s shoes”

– The “Shell Committee” had $170 million in contracts paid out but only $5 million worth of shells were delivered, many of which exploded prematurely killing gun crews.

• As a result of the miss management of resources Borden Set up the Imperial Munitions board under Flavelle (well known Canadian industrialist) to be responsible for equipping the war effort.

War Measures Act• First introduced by

Borden in the Great War, gave cabinet the power to make laws with out going to parliament.

• This was known as an “order in council”

• It was designed to ensure the safety and well being of Canada

• The war measures also allowed the federal government to take over provincial power and any social or economic activities for the war effort. – They could suspend civil

liberties (curfews etc..)– They could take over any

private business and convert it to produce for the war effort.

Enemy Aliens• Germans and Ukrainians

(from the Austro-Hungarian empire), poles, Serbs, Croats, Turks, Russians, Jews etc… were labeled as enemy aliens under the war measures act.– Many were harassed and

forced to leave their jobs.– Many were encouraged to

leave Canada– 9000 were interned into

labour camps during the war

• Part of the job of an interned alien was clearing forest and building roads.

• Camps were made for men only as well as camps to house women and children.

• Camps were located from BC to Nova Scotia totaling 24 including Nanaimo, Vernon, Fernie and Revelstoke in BC

Paying for the Great War(cost Canada $1,000,000. 00 per day)

a. Victory bondso Citizen loan to Government.

b. Collectionso Youth and volunteers would

collect material or get monetary donations.

c. Business tax on profitsd. Loans from other nations

o Left Canada exposed to terms set by those nations

e. Temporary Income Tax.o Brought in in 1917 and still

with us today.

Food Rationing:Canadians were encouraged to eat less, this saved

money which could be invested in war bonds or the food could be sent over seas.

• The government encouraged “Meatless Monday” and “Fuelless Sundays”

• Most limited them selves to through Honour rationing (1 ½ lbs of butter, 2lbs of sugar)

• Prohibition: While active in PEI since 1901, finally gained support in the other provinces between 1915 and 1918 when in the latter the Federal government introduced the “National Prohibition Act” under an order in council.

• Prohibition was first voted out in 1920 in both BC and Quebec others followed between 1921 and 1927 with PEI maintaining prohibition till 1948.

Other Changes to Canada

• Schools in farming communities let out early for students to help harvest and plant.

• Daylight savings time introduced to save energy consumption.

Women and the War at Home• When men left for the

battle fields women had to shoulder most of the responsibility at homea. Single parent familiesb. Factory workers : munitions

plants, aircraft factories and shipyards.

c. Service Sector: Banks, Police Force, Busses, Streetcars and Civil Service.

d. Red Cross workers: knitting socks and money for soap and writing paper.

While being major contributors to the war effort conditions were tough on the women. Unions fought against women in the work place. Factories did not have proper safety equipment (no separate wash or change rooms) No pension, or job security, and finally they were paid a fraction of what the men were.

SuffragistMovement to get women the right to vote

• Pushed by the white wealthy Christian educated women. Many part of The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

• 1st goal of the first wave of feminist.

• These women were disturbed by poverty, injustice in the working world and inequality in marriage and Property laws.

• The Great War was a huge boast to the movement as the government needed women to work and support their cause.

Women first gained the right to vote in the Prairie province slowly spreading across Canada until the War time elections act gave the vote to wives, widows, mothers, sisters and daughters of soldiers serving overseas. The purpose was to elect a Union government that would bring in conscription in 1917.

• 1916 – Manitobia, Saskatchewan, & Alberta

• 1917 BC & Ontario• 1918 Nova Scotia• 1919 New Brunswick• 1922 PEI• 1925 Newfoundland• 1940 Quebec

• 1918 Canada. All British subject women over the age of 21 (no aboriginals, Asians or other Minority groups)

• Giving the vote to women moved Canada to a more socialist/caring society.

Conscription Crisis 1917Mandatory Military Service

• Conscription crisis• Why a crisis

– Maimed and injured soldiers returning home.

– Hughes felt French Officers unfit to command & would not allow French battalions

– Canadians saw wealthy profiting from the war

– Wages at home higher then those of men overseas.

– Farmers were keeping sons at home to help work the farm.

– Tactic of attrition by the Generals had slaughtered so many men that replacements could not keep up with the death toll.

To get elected and a mandate for conscription Borden passed two undemocratic acts under an order in council.

• Military voters act– Allowed all who were

members of the armed forces to vote regardless of age, race or sex.

– At the same time banning the vote from the contentious objectors

• War Time Elections act:– Giving the vote to

Women with connection to men serving overseas.

This essentially was preventing French women from voting thus allowing the Union Government to win and bring in conscription

In 1917 the Union Government brought in the Military Service Act

• Compulsory conscription for all males between 20-35.– Men vital to the war effort,

those who were sick or conscientious objectors/pacifist were not made to join.

• Conscription was not applied evenly and put under control of mainly protestant clergy

• Riots in Montreal and Quebec city– Some protesters were shot

while dodgers were hunted down

• Resentment with hostility and ridicule against non supporters

•December 6, 1917 dawned clear and sunny in Halifax.

•Before darkness fell, more than a thousand people would die, with another thousand to follow.

•Nine thousand more would be injured and maimed in the biggest human-made explosion the world had ever seen.

The main rules were the "rules of the road," which are much the same on the water as they are on land.

•Keep to the right, or starboard in traffic•Signal your intentions and respect those of others

December 6, Mont-Blanc It flew no flags warning of its cargo: ship laden with explosives would be a prime target for German attack. So they avoided flying the explosive flag at sea but also forgot to put it up once entered in to halifax

Imo had no cargo on board. It was heading to New York to collect emergency supplies for civilians in war-torn Belgium. The Imo was already late trying to make up for lost time.

• At 9:04:35 Mont-Blanc exploded with a force stronger than any manmade explosion before it.

• The steel hull burst sky-high, falling in a blizzard of red-hot, twisted projectiles on Dartmouth and Halifax.

• Some pieces were tiny; others were huge. Part of the anchor hit the ground more than 4 kilometers away on the far side of Northwest Arm. A gun barrel landed in Dartmouth more than 5 kilometers from the harbour.

• The explosion was heard in Truro.

More damage and devastation

• More than 1500 people were killed outright; hundreds more would die in the hours and days to come.

• Nine thousand people, many of whom might have been safe if they hadn't come to watch the fire, were injured by the blast, falling buildings and flying shards of glass.

• And it wasn't over yet.• Within minutes the dazed survivors were

awash in water. The blast provoked a tsunami that washed up as high as 18 meters above the harbour's high-water mark on the Halifax side.

• And then a snow storm hit – bringing more than 16 inches of snow that very same night.

Who Helped Halifax:

Money poured in from places as far away as China and New Zealand.

The Canadian Government

The British Government

Boston, USA – donated money and supplies. They were the first to get supplies to a completely devastated Halifax.

Propaganda

Great War Propaganda posters

Propaganda was used in the GREAT WAR as in any war - and the truth suffered. Propaganda ensured that the people only got to know what their governments wanted them to know. In the GREAT WAR, the lengths to which governments would go to in an effort to blacken the enemy’s name reached a new level.

To ensure that everybody thought in the way the government wanted, all forms of information were controlled. Newspapers were expected to print what the government wanted the reader to read. In fact, though this would appear to be a form of censorship, the newspapers of Britain, effectively controlled by the media barons of the time, were happy to play ball.

They printed headlines that were designed to stir up emotions regardless of whether they were accurate or not. The most infamous headlines included:             i)     “Belgium child’s hands cut off by Germans”

ii)     “Germans crucify Canadian officer”

“To the north of Ypres our progress has been continued, especially on our left. We have taken six quick-firers, two bomb-throwers, and much material; and made several hundred prisoners, including several officers.The losses of the enemy were extremely high. At a single point on the front, in the proximity of the canal we counted more than six hundred German dead.On the heights of the Meuse, on the front Les Eparges-St Remy-Calonne trench, we have continued to gain ground, about one kilometer, and have inflicted on the enemy very severe losses.”

"In Flanders the British yesterday again attempted to regain the ground they had lost. In the afternoon they attacked from both sides but the attack completely broke down. An evening attack further east failed, with severe British losses."